Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The condition of being multiple or plural.
- n. A condition in which numerous distinct ethnic, religious, or cultural groups are present and tolerated within a society.
- n. The belief that such a condition is desirable or socially beneficial.
- n. Ecclesiastical The holding by one person of two or more positions or offices, especially two or more ecclesiastical benefices, at the same time.
- n. Philosophy The doctrine that reality is composed of many ultimate substances.
- n. Philosophy The belief that no single explanatory system or view of reality can account for all the phenomena of life.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The character of being plural.
- n. The holding by one person of two or more offices at the same time; specifically, the holding of two or more livings or benefices at the same time, or the ecclesiastical system under which this is possible.
- n. The doctrine that there are as many distinct and separate worlds as there are minds. See the extract.
Wiktionary
- n. The quality or state of being plural, or in the plural number.
- n. ecclesiastical The state of a pluralist; the holding of more than one ecclesiastical living at a time.
- n. social sciences A social system based on mutual respect for each other's cultures among various groups that make up a society, wherein subordinate groups do not have to forsake their lifestyle and traditions but, rather, can express their culture and participate in the larger society free of prejudice.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The quality or state of being plural, or in the plural number.
- n. (Eccl.), engraving The state of a pluralist; the holding of more than one ecclesiastical living at a time.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the practice of one person holding more than one benefice at a time
- n. the doctrine that reality consists of several basic substances or elements
- n. a social organization in which diversity of racial or religious or ethnic or cultural groups is tolerated
Etymologies
- plural + -ism (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Here I pick up a use of the word pluralism which is perhaps not all that common these days, but which was once, very properly, very significant in British political thought – think of theorists like Harold Laski.”
Archbishop's lecture celebrating 60th Anniversary of the William Temple Foundation
“These ideas are toxic to even the deepest pluralism because they begin from the premise and emotional commitment that pluralism is the enemy.”
The Huffington Post: Jairus Grove: A User's Guide to the New Racism
“For one, it ought to be fairly clear that internal pluralism is much more contingent on the specific mix of views in the population.”
“President Obama has spoken frequently of the role that the nonreligious play in American pluralism, so I was both pleased and unsurprised to hear that those involved in the current administration's efforts to ensure interfaith cooperation agreed.”
The Huffington Post: Chris Stedman: Atheist Students Find Their Place in the Interfaith Movement
“Atheists, agnostics, secular humanists and the like have a vital stake in ensuring that America's promise of pluralism is realized, and it is exhilarating to see more of us decide that collaboration is more important than division.”
The Huffington Post: Chris Stedman: Atheist Students Find Their Place in the Interfaith Movement
“I don't think Tom Paine can be faulted for failing to honor and respect the Townshend Acts in the name of pluralism.”
The Huffington Post: Christopher Cocca: The Oldest Injustice
“In viewing the nation as an integrated collective community, fascists claim that pluralism is a dysfunctional aspect of society, and justify a totalitarian state as a means to represent the nation in its entirety.”
Incredibly stupid conservative quote of the week « Skulls in the Stars
“The great error of pluralism is an utter lack of self-awareness.”
“Because pluralism is not a coherent philosophy and never can be, the ethics it champions are based on nothing but sentiment; as a result, they must necessarily shift when sentiments shift; they can never transcend immediate circumstances or the whims of the age.”
“In business we call pluralism using "best practices.”
Larry Gellman: The Whole World Is Watching--And It's Not Pretty
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pluralism’.
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AFCO - fundamental rights
as enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
academic freedom, access, asylum, bargaining, citizen, cloning, cohesion, collective agreement, collective bargai..., confidentiality, conflict of interest, constraint and 357 more...
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EU Buzz - collocations
Multiword expressions frequently used in EU context. Many of them have a specific EU-meaning, some of them are topical in 2012 also outside the EU but have a relevance in EU politics. People workin...
absorption capacity, absorption rate, acceding country, accession candidate, accession countries, accession country, accession criteria, accession cycle, accession negotia..., accession partner..., accession priorities, accession treaty and 1567 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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phrontistery - p
from phrontistery.info
pustule, purulence, pushful, purser, purpureal, putative, purpure, purpresture, purloin, purline, purlieu, purlicue and 1766 more...
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POL - elections
absentee ballot, affiliate, allegiance, announcement of c..., ballot, ballot box, ballot initiatives, ballot paper, barnstorming speech, bias, block vote, campaign ad and 930 more...
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EU Buzz - Lisbon Treaty
All words of the Lisbon Treaty
(Persons' names, foreign and grammatical words have been eliminated, MWEs have been split up into individual words. Capitalization has been retained if r...health, follow, condition, meeting, minister, beginning, chapter, information, language, remain, covered, respect and 2614 more...
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January 2012
bloviate, pastiche, apparat, facile, paroxysm, pique, bedfellow, pedigree, tutelage, protege, protégé, retroactive and 196 more...
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-ism's -logies
acosmism, absurdism, absolutism, ableism, aestheticism, alarmism, allotheism, anachronism, animalculism, analogism, animatism, animism and 464 more...
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EU Buzz - governing principles of the EU
constitutional de..., constitutional tr..., social market eco..., cultural diversity, democracy, diversity of cult..., diversity of trad..., equality, equality between ..., free movement of ..., free movement of ..., free movement of ... and 34 more...
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solutions
one word (preferably / not a must). terms that solved, help solve or theoretically will solve the world's problems (past, present, future).
these can be general, umbrella terms or...veganism, neurotechnology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, globalism, sustainability, laws, ecology, education, immunization, switchgrass, Esperanto and 72 more...
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September Words-11337
During the month of September, post at least 10 new words to this list. Make sure you cite where you read the word (book/author/pg) and quote the context/sentence where you found it. If someone has...
flabbergasted, discombobulated, inclination, serendipity, savvy, profound, incarnation, myriad, confiscate, audacity, deciduous, adieu and 79 more...
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Wholly religious terms
Queer words relating to religion that you never see anywhere else.
vestry, clergyman, rectory, apse, tithe, transubstantiation, consubstantiation, pluralism, catechism
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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Exquisite.
Words to my liking. (The most lovelybeautifulintricatecondecendinggratuitous.)
unequivocally, destitute, prudent, sagacious, circumspect, discreet, rash, forethought, evince, judicious, shrewd, extravagant and 227 more...
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strausser's Words
utterly, pathetic, awesome, oblivious, neurotic, savour, stipulate, macintosh, passionate, insane, chai, cinnamon and 75 more...
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Immigration
Words that we will encounter during our study of immigration!
immigration, emigrate, immigrant, emigrant, migrate, tennement, steerage, decade, detainee, ward, indentured, literacy and 41 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for pluralism.
kylenorth "Give Me Liberty!" Textbook Sep 28, 2010